Monday, April 30, 2012

Some Soccer News for Mon Apr 30, 2012

STARTERS

ESPN will roll out ESPNFC this week to co-incide with their coverage of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. Read all about it right here.

dN

Has Thierry Henry's jet-set lifestyle caught up with him? He badly damaged a hamstring on Saturday just a few days after traveling to Europe and back earlier in the week, for the second time in a month. I am no doctor, but I can't imagine all the travel, no matter how luxurious, has helped him stay in peak condition. Athletes need rest to recover and I know that flying around the world has never been restful for me.

dN

Real Madrid can win the Primera title on Wednesday with a victory or Barca dropping any points.

dN

Lille has fought its way back in to the Ligue 1 title chase now trailing 2nd place PSG by just two points and leaders Montpellier by seven with 4 games to go.

dN

With all the drama of a barking dog England will hire Roy Hodgson as their new national team manager. So much for Bobble Head Harry.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

Like amazing ninja's the Stars stole another one on the road, this time a goal deep into stoppage time to tie the game In Atlanta and take home a point. They had trailed 2-0 and 3-1 late. It was a glorious draw, if there is such a thing. I know I was leaping around celebrating like an idiot!
-Between this game and last weekend in Edmonton the Stars entered second half stoppage time with 1 point in their hands and came home with 4! Thats how you make an average season great.

Seattle Sounder FC v LA Galaxy at 9:00PM CT on Wed May 2 at CenturyLink Field in downtown Seattle.

THE LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

This coming weekend will see the final two spots filled for the 64 team tournament, and First Round will be played on Wed May 15!
-Here are the 62 so far qualified.

The draw for the First Round will be held Tue May 1.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sun Apr 29Udinese 2-0 Lazio - Udi wins to move from #5 to #4 while Laz falls from #3 to #6, with the #3 finisher going to the Champions League.Lille 2-1 PSG - #3 is suddenly just 2 points back of #2.
-Mon Apr 30Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United - Man City dominated the derby for all the marbles. How cool was that?

Did you know that long time Liverpool great Sami Hyypia is the head coach at Bayer Leverkusen?

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Reports from Germany have Raul already signed by a club in Qatar.
-I will believe it when I see it. Remember when Beckham had already bought a house in Paris and was in that city to be introduced by PSG. It was never true.

FACT OF THE DAY

In 21 Bundesliga appearances this season Jermaine Jones has 14 yellow cards.

Why in the world would Landon Donovan let Robbie Keane take a Penalty Kick? Why? Donovan is nearly golden from the spot! Robbie Keane, eeeeehhhhh, not so much. He missed on Saturday and LA settled for a tie.

TFC loses AGAIN, this time giving up the winner in second half stoppage time.
NYRB gets iis first shut out of the season, when everyone is injured!

Off! Thierry Henry scored one of his more amazing goals of the season, and then a few minutes later he jacks up his hamstring and goes out of the game. Hey, the team held on to the 1 goal lead though!
-Although New England keeper Matt Reis is just as much to blame for his terrible positioning. What was Reis doing?

Jonathan Spector & Birmingham finished 4th in the English Championship division which puts them in the promotion playoffs that begin later this week.

Great to see Oguchi Onyewu all the way back into the first 11 at Sporting this weekend.

Head coach Gregg Berhalter has his team Hammarby off to a perfect start with 12 points from 4 games in Sweden!
-And first year professional Billy Schuler is one of his regulars.

Sacha Kljestan was suspended for the teams 0-4 win on Friday at Genk due to yellow card accumulation.

In his first game in Finland last Wednesday Aaron Wheeler scored on 2 late Penalty Kicks to give his team KooTeePee a win in the league cup Round of 16.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Second DivisionTristan Bowen - Roeselare - started and went 86 min in a scoreless game at Brussels.Devann Yao - Boussu Dour Borinage - came on as a sub in the 53rd min but lost 1-2 v Tienen.

DENMARK - SuperligaClarence Goodson - Brondy - played the full 90 and tied 3-3 at SonderjyskE.Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - went the distance as they tied 3-3 v Brondby.Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - played the whole game as they won 5-3 v Aarhus.Brad Rusin - HB Koge - started and went 88 min as they won 2-1 v Horsens.

ENGLAND - Premier LeagueClint Dempsey - Fulham - played the whole game but lost 4-0 at Everton.Brad Friedel - Tottenham - played the full match and won 2-0 v Blackburn.Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - on the bench as they tied 0-0 at West Brom.Tim Howard - Everton - in goal as usual and they won 4-0 v Fulham.Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - played the full 90 and tied 0-0 at West Brom.Tim Ream - Bolton - went the distance as they tied 2-2 at Sunderland.

ENGLAND - League OneMike Grella - Bury - started and went 84 min as they tied 0-0 v Oldham.Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the whole game as they won 4-1 v Exeter.

FINLAND - VeikkausliigaDaniel Antunez - Inter Turku - played the full match as they won 0-5 at Lahti.Mike Banner - Jaro - went the distance as they won 1-0 v KuPS.Etchu Tabe - KuPS - came on as a sub at half time but lost 1-0 at Jaro.

FINLAND - YkkonenJustin Moose - SJK - started but came off at half time as they tied 1-1 at JIPPO.Aaron Wheeler - KooTeePee - started and went 75 min as they won 0-3 at HIFK.

GERMANY - BundesligaTimmy Chandler - Nurnberg - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they won 2-3 at Hoffenheim.Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the whole game but lost 1-0 at Leverkusen.Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - went the distance but lost 2-3 v Nurnberg.Jermaine Jones - Schalke - started and went 85 min picking up a yellow card as they won 4-0 v Hertha.Andrew Wooten - Kaiserslautern - went the distance but lost 2-5 v Dortmund.

NETHERLANDS - EredivisieJozy Altidore - AZ - started and played 85 min but lost 1-0 at Feyenoord.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste DivisieCharles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - came on as a sub at half time and they won 2-1 v Dordrecht.

NORWAY - EliteserienErik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - on the bench but lost 0-2 v Odd Grenland.Steve Clark - Honefoss - in goal for the whole game as usual and they tied 0-0 at Tromso.Sean Cunningham - Stabaek - played the entire game but lost 0-2 v Odd Grenland.Josh Gatt - Molde - on the bench as they lost 2-1 at Sogndal.Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - played the whole game as they tied 0-0 at Tromso.

PORTUGAL - Primeira LigaOguchi Onyewu - Sporting - went the full 90 as they won 2-1 v Academica.Alex Zahavi - Vitoria Setubal - on the bench as they lost 0-3 v Nacional.PORTUGAL - Liga de HonraCaleb Patterson-Sewell - Atletico CP - went the distance as they tied 2-2 at Freamunde.Tony Taylor - Estoril - started and went 84 min but drew 0-0 v Santa Clara.

SCOTLAND - Premier LeagueAlejandro Bedoya - Rangers - on the bench as they lost 3-0 v Celtic.Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - played the full 90 as they lost 3-0 v Celtic.Mo Edu - Rangers - went the whole game but lost 3-0 v Celtic.

SWEDEN - SuperettanBrian Edwards - Degerfors - played the full match but lost 1-0 at Brommapojkarna.Patrick Hopkins - Ljungskile - played the whole match getting a yellow card as they won 0-1 at Umea.Ryan Miller - Halmstad - went the distance as they won 3-1 v Trelleborg.Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - went the full 90 and won 3-1 v Assyriska.Billy Schuler - Hammarby - played the whole game as they won 0-2 at Brage.Steffen Vroom - Ljungskile - started and went 68 min as they won 0-1 at Umea.

PRIMERA DIVISIONDaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - played the entire match and they won 1-2 at Tigres.Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - went the distance as they drew 1-1 v Pumas.Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - played the whole 90 as they tied 1-1 v Pumas.Greg Garza - Tijuana - started and went 45 min as they tied 1-1 v Pumas.Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - on the bench as they won 1-3 at Atlas.Michael Orozco - San Luis - played the whole game but lost 2-1 at Toluca.Jose Torres - Pachuca - went the full 90 as they won 3-1 v Guadalajara.

MEXICO

Clausura

The regular season is over and the playoff pairings are all set. We are just waiting for exact game dates to be announced.